Device for surface decoration



R. C. GERE DEVICE FOR SURFACE DECORATION April 9, 1935.

Filed June 27, 1953 INVENTOR Aau/A/ 6. 62-795 1 A O EY Patented Apr. 9, 1935 DEVICE SURFACE DECORATION Rbllin'QJGre, Abbington, Pa, assignor to Sloane- Blabo'nCorporation;TrentomN; .L; a corp0ra'- tion of "Delaware "j Application -June 27';'1933, Serial No. 677,816

6 Claims"; 01:41 m) This invention relates to an apparatus: for dec-' orating surfaces, and more particularly to an apparatus fon producing' irregular variegated effects-v or irregular: blending of different colors upon'a -.surfa;'c'e to be decoratedr y In a co-pending application of William'il. Kel-..= ley and James W. 'Kemmlen: Ser. N0} "6263593;

ducing effeotssimilar tothose fobta'ina'ble by' the resent invention. In said prior 'application,-the blending of different colors'on'adjacentiareas 'is effected by a light pressing/with' a brush block, advantageously with a blo'c'kfaced lwith Ia pfle? fabric'. l have no'wfound thatfsubs'tanti'ally'sim- .d ilar efiects can-:be obtained and less difficulty ex periencediin'cleaningblocks and less care required .1:

to avoid clogging of the blocks when a stiff perforate' 'sheet'is usedin place of the brush material, and the back of the sheet left open as far as it is possible to do so.

According to the present invention, the surface being decorated is treated after application of the different colors to adjacent areas thereof by pressing it with a stiff perforate sheet which is sufliciently open to permit access of air to break the suction as the sheet is drawn away from the paint after pressing, but nevertheless is sufficiently dense to cause some lateral flow of the paint on the surface, whereby to produce an irregular blending of the different adjacent colors.

Numerous perforate materials may be used for this purpose, their suitability being dependent only upon their resistance to the paint or other coloring materials, the degree of openness, and their stiffness and strength to withstand the pressing and withdrawing operations. The material which I have found most satisfactory and most economical is a wire screen, preferably of a mesh or spacing of the same order as the spacing of lines or pins on a printing block, or two or three times more frequent, e. g., about 8 to 50 wires to the inch. It is to be understood, however, that these particular spacings of the wire are not given as final limits. In some cases it may be desirable to use considerably closer mesh, whereas in other cases a wider mesh may be used. With a finer mesh, and particularly with smaller wire, the tendency will be to produce a greater running out of the colors, due to the suction of the sheet as it is drawn away from the surface to which it is applied, whereas with a wider mesh, and particular- 1y with coarser wire, the effect will be a much more limited flow, due to the squeezing aside of paint from beneath the wires and the flowing back of the paint into the space beneath the wires after withdrawal of the sheet. Accordingly, the mesh'willbe chosen coarser where a limited blending without substantial distortion is desired, andcloser-whe're greater distortion and irregular'interflow of the colorsis desired.

, .Inthe accompanying drawing, I have-illustrated 1 a preferred embodiment-of; my invention-.1 This is given to facilitatej explanation 'of the principle of the invention; and as an example of one specific way in which it may beapplied to practical opera-' ,tion,'-and" is not in any sense to -be taken as limit-- ingthe' invention. I

Fig. l is a fragmentary plan View of a block embodying the present invention; and adapted for use ona'n ordinary block printingma'chine;

Fig. .2 isa plan view of a decorated surface suchaswould-be-treated by 'the block illustrated in;

Fig-.5 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective fragmentary View, partly in section;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective showing the application of the screen to the block;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of the invention with the screen partly broken away from one section; and 3 Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the support as used in Fig. 5, with the screen partly broken away to expose this support.

The embodiments of the invention shown in the drawing are intended for use on an ordinary block-printing machine, such as is used in the manufacture of printed floor covering materials.

as has been used for printing or mashing in the prior art. It may, for example, be a standard 10-line block, e.g., having 10 lines to the inch, with the kerfs between the lines .042 inches and the lines .058 inches, and, as shown, alternating lines have been removed, leaving five lines I! .to the inch, each line being .058 inches in width, and the space l2 between being .142 inches. As illustrated in the drawing, the block is designed for distorting or blending the colors on spaced tile sections 13 of a tile pattern. Accordingly, the lines are completely removed from the block, except on the areas I4 corresponding to the tile sections which are to be treated in the distorting operation. The perforate sheet l5 which in the prefered case as described and illustrated may be a 26-mesh bronze screen made from .017 wire, is nailed or otherwise secured over the lines in the areas which are to be distorted. If the wire used is of substantial thickness, it may be necessary to plane oif the back of the block to compensate for the additional thickness of the wire.

This block as described and illustrated may be mounted in a block-printing machine and operated in exactly the same manner as a mash block, and when so operated will produce the desirable blending and distorting effects.

a In Fig. 5, I have shown another method of mounting the perforate sheet on blocks to be used in a printing machine. In this case, sup-- porting members I1 are made separately, e. g., by casting type metal, and are nailed or otherwise secured to the face of theblock l0. These supporting members have raised portions 18 on which may be spaced parallel lines exactly the same as on the wooden blocks of Fig. 1, but preferably are designed to provide a greater open area, e. g., as shown in Fig. 6. On-these supporting members, the perforate sheet I5 is fastened in any satisfactory way, e. g., by nailing in the same manner as already described, and the operation of the block is the same as has been described.

Although the present invention is intended primarily to achieve a blending and/or distortion of colors on adjacent areas, it may be used also in conventional mashing operations for closing in and leveling of paints applied by line or print blocks, in which case, however, the perforate sheet is preferably more open than in the case of a distorting operation, and preferably, also,,

the block is adjusted so as to dip more lightly into the coloring materials 'What I claim is:

1. A block for producing irregular blending of colors which comprises a woven fabric, the mesh of which is close enough to allow pressure and suction to be applied to the surface of the color,

but open enough to allow air to enter therethrough and break the suction when the block is withdrawn, and a carrier therefor adapted to support said sheet at points spaced'so as to permit access of air to substantially all parts of the area thereof.

2. A block for blending colors on a decorated surface comprising a support having raised members spaced to allow access between them and a woven wire fabric covering said block supported on said raised areas.

3. A block for blending covers on a decorated surface, as defined in claim 2, in which the spacing of the wires is ofthe same order as is the spacing of raised areas used in printing the colors.

4. A block for blending colors as defined in claim 2, in which the spacing of the wires is between 10 and 50 per inch.

5. A block for use on printing machines comprising a print block with the kerf wider than the raised areas and a wire screen secured thereon.

6. In a block printing machine the combination of color applying blocks having closely spaced projections for carrying color and each adapted to apply a portion of a multicolor pattern, a mash block comprising a stifl. pervious sheet at the surface thereof, and means for moving said mash block toward the printed surface until the coloring material contacts with the pervious sheet thereon whereby to seal the openings thereof throughout substantially the entire area being pressed, and for thereafter withdrawing said sheet at a rate adjusted to develop suction by the withdrawal of the sheet more rapidly than air is admitted through the sheet whereby to cause an irregular interflow of colors on adjacent areas.

. ROLLIN c. GERE. 

